When Mayor Bing took office he pledge to demolish 10,000 houses in Detroit by the end of his first term (in 2013) and on Monday the city said they'd gotten to about 4,200 home demolitions. But the Free Press is saying that money for demolition is going unspent. Are they really just sitting on $20 million? The Mayor's office says it is not so simple to tap a state fund that can be used for demo only. "The only condition by which a portion of the fund could possibly belong to the city is when the insured fails to rehabilitate or demolish the fire-damaged property within the time frame and acceptable standards of the city," Bing spokeswoman Naomi Patton said. It is estimated that Detroit has more than 100,000 vacant houses. [Freep]
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